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In Search of Montalbano - the ups and downs of 10 days in Eastern Sicily

First of all, a confession. When asked, I have been saying that this is my first trip to Sicily but in the interests of being complete honest [when am I anything else?] I have to let you into a secret - I have been once before. About 40 years ago on an educational cruise, along with 1000 or so other 16-18 year olds, I flew to Venice and then spent no more than a day in half a dozen places, including Taormina, on the west coast of Sicily. However my memory of what I saw is so hazy that saying I had never been before was closer to the truth, which is why I have been somewhat economical with the truth. Sorry!

My vague memories of Sicily were good ones however, so you might well be asking, why take so long to go back? After all I have been back to Venice many times since that first visit, and even managed to work another of our stops, Carthage and Tunis, into a holiday many years ago, but somehow Sicily had never called to me, until I started, along with lots of other people, to fall in love with the hill towns which form the backdrop to the “Inspector Montalbano” detective series. For those who haven’t seen it, the good [and extremely good looking] Commissario Salvatore Montalbano, played by Luca Zingaretti, lives and works in the far south-east corner of Sicily, working in the fictional town of Vitaga, [in fact an amalgam of several different towns] and living on the coast in “Marinella” which in reality is Punto Secco, a nearby coastal town. The opening credits are in effect a bird’s eye view of the tiny streets and superb baroque buildings of the settings of the series, and like many, I fell in love with the idea of going to visit them. Nevertheless it took me several years to get there, but finally, this September, I made it, the trip being a present to me from my lovely [and long-suffering!] DH for my 60th birthday - so tons of thanks to him for his patience both before the trip, and during it!

The baroque towns were not the only places we wanted to see though - originally I had wanted to work the Greek Temples at Agrigento into our itinerary, as well as the Roman villa Casale near Piazza Armerina, Siracuse [which everyone here and in guide books too raved about] and of course Taormina, but with only 10 days, in the end something had to give, and regrettably, because it would have required at least one if not two one-night stands, we jettisoned it. In retrospect, the place which should have gone was Taormina, but to find out why, you’ll have to keep reading!

That then is the why. Now onto the how.

Living in Cornwall in the far southwest of England is both a blessing, because of the lovely scenery and equable climate, and a curse, because it takes us about 3 hours to get to our first major international airport at Bristol. But once there you have access to the vast majority of European airports, including direct flights to Catania, on Sicily's eastern coast. With only 10 days we weren’t going to be able to make it to Palermo anyway, so round trip flights were the obvious choice the only drawback being the early starts - leaving Bristol at 5.50am would mean an overnight near the airport and a return flight of 10.40am would probably involve an early wake up call at the other end too, but those were minor considerations, compared with the advantages of having the rest of the day to spend either on holiday, or getting home in good time. That at least was the theory.

Once there, we would hire a car - despite some of the horror stories I was reading, I was confident that we would manage this with few difficulties, both of us having many times driven on what my dad used to call “the continent”, including in Italy. Deciding which car hire firm to choose was a far harder task, as the reviews for all the car hire companies in Catania were all pretty dire, so we went with the one which offered the best deal, which for us was Firefly, because they included a free extra driver in the price. A potential snag was that they were located off the airport and I agonised about this for quite a long time, but none of the reviews mentioned that as a problem, so in the end we stuck with them.

Last but never least, as part of this introduction thanks must go to the kind [and patient!] fodorites who helped with the planning, particularly [and apologies if I leave anyone out] toledodd, kja, marija, thursdaysd, mimar, bon_voyage, BritishCaicos,gertie, Dayle, sundriedtopepo, EYWandBTV, julie, jamikins, TDudette, Mimar, julia_t, willit, immimi, progol, palatino, huggy, LucyV, sylvester; you were all very kind in giving me the benefit of your experiences, both good and bad - I hope here to return the favour.

Good, have been looking forward to this! But didn't we warn you about Taormina?>>

yes, thursdaysd, you did. But foolishly we thought that by staying in Taormina we could avoid the worst of the crush, in which we were successful. What we had not reckoned on was the stress of getting there!

I hate to display my ignorance, but isn't Taormina on the EAST coast of Sicily? You said it's on the west coast.>>

I get the impression that you're not in the least bit ignorant of Italian geography, waldo, but you're right, I mistyped west, when of course, Taormina is on the east coast of Sicily. Thank you for pointing that out.

Anyway, thank you and everyone else for your interest. I started the TR proper last night but fell asleep over my laptop [through tiredness, not because I'd bored myself rigid!].

I'm an ardent fan of Montalbano, and have been for as long as it has been on TV. The greatest satisfaction I get is being able to completely understand it in the Sicilian dialect, not looking at the captions. I was raised with Sicilian grandparents, and they spoke and acted the same way as much of the people on the show. Lots of the little innuendos in the language and strictly Sicilian gestures are lost in the translation.

Hi Waldo - I'm sure you're right about the translation missing the nuances of the language; sadly I think that's probably always true of subtitles.

Sometimes even I with my limited italian spot differences and jokes that don't come across from the english words; I have also read some of the stories in Italian though often I come to the end and realise that I've got everything completely wrong and have to read it all again!

Nevertheless IMO the series manages to capture the atmosphere of these hill towns and their arid surroundings as well as the foibles of the inhabitants, and it was all too easy sitting in the square below the Duomo in Ragusa to picture some of the scenes from the books. They are definitely places to which I would like to return when I have more time [and perhaps when it's not so darned hot!]

Like you, annhig, I´m going against all the advice and will start my Sicily visit in Taormina. We've got a lovely hotel, at least based on reviews here (Villa Schuler) and will take a transfer from Catania airport to the hotel. It has some sentimental value for me since my recently deceased mom raved to me about it from her trip back in the 60s (I know, I know, but we will only spend two nights there, just a day to get over jet lag). I have heeded your advice about driving, so we will take a train from Taormina to Siracusa/Ortygia, spend three nights there, and only then pick up our car to head for the Baroque towns and the west. Hopefully this will reduce some of the less pleasant driving moments.

Looking forward to everything you have time to post before we leave in 9 days!!! And thanks for your help in my preparation as well.

Ireynold - that sounds like a terrific start to a trip and taking the train/using a transfer are very good ideas for getting to Taormina and then Siracusa. The Villa Schuler is probably as good a place to stay as there in in Taormina by all accounts and Ortigia is just lovely. Where are you staying there?

I hope you do avoid the worst driving pitfalls [and potholes] but take comfort from the fact that we encountered virtually everything that driving in Sicily could throw at us, and we [and our car] lived to tell the tale.

Hi, annhig,
Our reservation in Ortygia is at L'approdo delle Sirene. I got the recommendation from several people here. I went around and around on this one, and finally decided to take on the minor inconvenience of having to change rooms -- first two nights with a water view, third night move to a room with balcony but no water view. Since we travel with carryons and essentially two sets of clothes the room switch is not a big deal. And of course there´s always the chance that there will be a cancellation and we won't have to move. Getting excited!

I'm reluctant to say this, but what the heck--My wife and I went to Italy every year, sometimes two or three times a year, from 1987 to 2010. My wife's brothers and sisters live in Naples. They're Neapolitans, while my wife is a natural born American. In any event, we've been to practically every place in Italy, including Sardinia, we've been to Germany, Malta, Switzerland and France. BUT BELIEVE IT OR NOT, NEVER BEEN TO SICILY! As a descendant of Sicilians, I'm really ashamed, but somehow or other, we never got the real urge. What a shame! My maternal grandparents came from Capo D'Orlando, and I remember them always saying how lovely it was. My big mistake.

lreynolds - I looked up the location of your hotel and it's right on the harbour, which is a very convenient place to be, both for exploring Ortigia, and Siracuse as well. We had further to go to see Siracuse as we were further down into Ortigia, and we ended up having to walk quite a long way before we found the bus stop for the Necropolis.

You OTOH are much closer - just cross the bridge into Siracuse proper and walk about one block along the Corso Umberto, and the bus stops are by a little cafe on the right hand side of the street [it's one way, anyway]. There is either the ordinary bus, or the HOHO bus, but they don't seem to run very often.

Waldo - it's not too late, is it? you could fly into either Palermo or Catania and be in Capo D'Orlando in a day or two.

lreynold1: We stayed at L'Approdo delle Sirene and loved it. Run by a very welcoming family. Outstanding breakfast coffee in a room overlooking the harbor. Close to the bridge to the main city. Just a block or two over the bridge are a couple of interesting, non-monument places: La Pecora Negra, a locals restaurant serving "volcano pizzas" which are sort of pizza envelopes loaded with deliciousness, and also Wash-and-Dry Siracusa, a small laundry place run by a young Italian guy and his American girlfriend. Fun to chat with.

Annhig- I'm afraid it is too late. My wife is not with us any longer, and it's not the same without her. I guess my Italian travel days are over. The great thing is that I have a storehouse of some really unbelievable stories concerning our travels around Italy, some of which could only happen in Naples.

As the first person to have recommended L'Approdo delle Sirene on lreynold's thread (and having been recommending it since I stayed there in 2007), I can attest that it is extremely well-located and warmly run. And that it's worth waiting until one leaves Siracusa to pick up a rental car. I think lreynolds has chosen well.

lreynold just a suggestion, but it might be better to take the bus from Taormina to Syracusa, since you can board the bus in Taormina, whereas the train station is a Euro 15 taxi ride from the top of town. Ask at the front desk at Villa Schuler, staff there is very helpful and accommodating.

waldo - I'm so sorry to read that and understand I think how you feel about going there now without your DW. It's good that you have so many happy memories of your travels and loads of stories to tell about them. I can well believe that about Naples as I've only been there twice and have twice as many stories about it than about anywhere else.

annhig: Glad you are finally making it to Sicily. Looking forward to your recap.

Waldo: Please do not stop your European travels. I just returned from a 17 day convoluted Europe visit where I visited Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany. I do not suggest this for everyone, in fact my wife stayed home and I missed traveling with her but this was a trip of revisiting places, new places and just a great time.

tuscan - I just googled buses in Sicily and it seems that there are direct buses with no changes from Taormina to Siracusa, which take just over 2 ½ hours.

The one I found left at 8.45 am and arrived at 11.25 am, leaving from the bus terminus in Taormina [your hotel should be able to tell you where that is] and arriving at the Corso Umberto [the main street] in Siracusa.

I'm sure that there are later ones, but here's the bus website, anyway:

Thanks for the heads up -- I had just assumed the train would be easier and quicker. The 8:45 bus sounds great, I will report back in a few weeks. Only one more thing for me to do in the trip planning department -- I will spend several hours the next few days going back over all the many trip reports and planning threads, with my own itinerary in hand, scribbling down pearls of wisdom from all you wonderfully helpful forum members. Thanks to all.

lreynold - your hotel should be able to help you with deciding whether to use the bus or the train, getting tickets [if necessary], etc .etc.

BTW, in case I don't get to it before you go, one of the best things we did in Ortigia was to go to a performance at the Teatro dei pupi [the puppet theatre]. Although the story wasn't that easy to follow, the puppets are charming and it was a lot of fun to watch.

The theatre is on the left at the top of the Via Giudecca [as you are coming from the Siracuse end] and performances last about an hour. From the timetable, it looks as if there are performances more or less every day in October, starting at 5.30 pm.

The only problem we had was actually buying the tickets - when we walked past in the early afternoon it was closed, and no indication about how to get them. When we found a tourist office we asked them and they didn't know, but suggested we go round to the theatre at about 5 and see if anything was happening [the performance we were really interested in was at 9.30 pm the next day]. Fortunately when we got there at about 4.45 they were open and we reserved our tickets, and paid for them, which meant that we only had to turn up about 5 minutes before it was due to start, and still found ourselves in the second row.

if you can book on line before you go, or while you're in Taormina, that might be the best idea.

This should be interesting. I have Sicily in mind for a someday-trip, but not while I'm travelling with my parents, which I want to do while they still can, because my mum's afraid of the Mafia. (Direct quote.)

oh dear, non-conformist, that probably means that the rest of Italy is out too. Shame.

Seriously, we asked the guide we had for our day on Etna about this, and he said that they are operating mostly in the north of Italy now, because that is where the money is. Sicily is too poor to be of interest to them any more.

So far as tourists are concerned, there is no issue with them at all. None.

Day 1 - how luggage is lost and found and an unexpected encounter with chocolate.

I will not bore you with an account of our journey to Bristol the evening before we were due to depart at the unfashionably early hour of 5.50 am; we packed, we bade our [adult] kids and dogs a fond farewell, left them a long list of jobs to do [the kids not the dogs], and drove away. We had booked a room at one of the hotels near the airport that offer to park your car and drive you to the airport for the flight [and pick you up and bring you back again at the end of the trip, of course]. We have previously used a couple of places that cater for the bottom of that market, but found them noisy and a bit tawdry; as this was a birthday trip we went upmarket and booked a night here:

They have built a new wing with very new rooms catering for the airport market though the lift was very small for people trying to get luggage up to their room, and it was a bit of a trek to get up there. But the room was light and spacious, and the very modern bathroom was excellent. They also have a pretty good restaurant where we had a very nice evening meal, a bar serving lighter meals, and they even serve breakfast [of a sort] from 3.30 am, with proper breakfasts from 6am. It was breakfast which almost caused our undoing; having dragged ourselves out of bed just before 4am, we wanted to grab some toast and fruit juice, and somehow the rucksack carrying all our travel docs [apart from the passports which live in my handbag for the duration of any trip] got left behind, and it wasn’t until we were halfway to the airport in the hotel shuttle bus that DH realised our error. Of course we couldn’t ask them to go back as there were other people on the bus, so once we got to the airport, I had the job of dragging our bags [hurray for wheeled luggage] to the Easyjet bag drop while DH went back to the hotel to retrieve the rucksack. I hung around a bit by the entrance, decided to pack my fleece rather than carry it [a good decision as it turned out] which gave me something to do for a few minutes, and then tried to find out if I could check the bags in without DH being present or indeed the physical presence of our pre-printed boarding passes.

Fortunately I didn’t have to find out as just then the rucksack put in an appearance, accompanied by a panting DH, so we breathed a sigh of relief, checked in the bags and went upstairs to the security area, which was discovered has been greatly improved and expanded so despite the unexpected number of people flying at 6am, it all went very quickly. Once through security, and the seemingly endless labyrinths of duty free in which we have no interest, we emerged into the departure lounge which even at that time of the morning was looking quite busy, if not to say crowded. When could all of these people be going? How inconsiderate of them to be flying at the same time as us! Cleary they need to expand that area like they have security.

However despite it taking over 15 minutes to buy a paper and a bottle of water, we still made it to the departure gate in time [it was Gate 2 which was convenient] and then waited on the bus for what seemed like ages while we waited for other people doing the same thing. But finally we were boarding and making a timely departure and after an uneventful flight [apart from lovely views over the alps and the western coast of Italy] by 10 am we were coming into land at Catania. Arrival was unremarkable too, and by the time we’d made it to baggage reclaim, the bags were beginning to arrive; the pink of that new bag was pretty hard to miss!

Our car hire collection had been worrying me a bit, so before we left I had put the phone no for Firefly into my phone [and tested it!] so immediately we were out of the airport building I gave them a ring to clarify where we were to be picked up to be taken to their depot. “Do you see the Hertz car hire area, Signora? Walk over to it and wait by the bridge, we will be there subito” And they were! [and I did it all in italian but I won’t bore you with that].
There were quite a few other people waiting too, and somehow though we were first there we were last on, but that worked to our advantage as when we got to the depot just a very few minutes later, I was first off and into the office to do the paperwork, while DH sorted out the luggage [and made sure he had the rucksack!] The hire process was completely straightforward, with no hard sell of CWD etc., once we said we weren’t interested [as we’d taken out a separate insurance at home, you definitely don’t want not to have it covered somehow], we were given the keys to our car, which turned out to be a somewhat underpowered Fiat Punto, and we were on our own.

We took quite a long time to check the car over to make sure that there were no more than the 2 small scratches mentioned on the paperwork, and then to work out how to get the luggage into the boot, which amazingly could take both cases and more besides, though the parcel shelf didn’t quite lie flat, which might be a clue to someone that there was luggage in it, and finally, with DH at the wheel, maps in hand and satnav turned on, we were off.

The satnav indicated that we should head right out of the depot, and then right again, and right again, which rather than sending us round in a circle led us straight onto the autostrada heading south to Siracusa, our first stop, so the first part of the journey was about as stress free as it could be, just as long as you ignored the other drivers, who clearly all thought that they were driving Ferraris in a grand prix. Still, at least we hadn’t had to negotiate the exit to the airport, which had looked “interesting” to say the least. How glad we were that we hadn’t decided to drive into Catania.

Gradually the traffic eased off a bit, and though the scenery wasn’t spectacular, we weren’t too interested in it anyway as we were too busy making sure that we were going in the right direction. Not that there was anywhere else much to go - the autostrada south of Catania goes through a succession of tunnels so really you just have to keep driving, which we did until we arrived at the outskirts of Siracusa when we came to a full stop. No, not because there was anything wrong with the car, but because there was a traffic jam. A long one. So we had plenty of time to admire the nearby cemetery, watch people buying flowers to put on the graves of their young ones from the flower stalls, and generally take in the scenery.

Finally the traffic started to move again, and we were plunged into the madness that is Friday lunchtime in downtown Siracusa. As my Italian teacher might say “oh, Dio”. Somehow we got through it without incident, though there were some points when it seemed inevitable that either we would hit something or they would hit us, but even when we emerged from all that madness unscathed, the test of driver and satnav wasn’t over as we were plunged into the tiny streets of Ortigia as we tried to find our way to the hotel. DH sounded distinctly sceptical when I said that all he had to do was to follow the signs for the papyrus museum but that turned out to be exactly right, and suddenly, there we were. We had been promised that the hotel would park the car, so I popped into reception to announce or arrival, and as if by magic, a porter [who we learnt was called Paolo] arrived, took our luggage and then our car keys, and while we were checking in, parked it, goodness knows where, but by then we really didn’t care very much.
He then accompanied us up to our room, refused a tip, and there we were. What a lovely room. Though the curtains had been closed to keep out the heat of the sun, we could see that it was large with a wide comfy bed, a wardrobe with a safe, and a reasonably sized bathroom. And when we opened the curtains - a view of the sea and a small balcony. Perfect. We had arrived.

Although a little more expensive than where we usually stay [we’re getting soft in our old age wanting lifts and such like] it turned out to be the perfect choice for us. Quiet, comfortable, friendly, clean - all the things you want in a hotel. And no need to worry about the car - we didn’t touch it again until we left, though it did seem mysteriously to move location, which provided us with some amusement in guessing where it might turn up the next! Breakfasts were good, though not the best [the cappuccino that you could order specially was definitely better than the ordinary coffee] but overall the hotel just worked, in the way a hotel should. Top marks and I would very happily stay there again.

After a few minutes freshening up we were anxious to get out to explore, and given we’d started so early in the morning, quite keen to find some lunch as well. After a bit of desultory wandering, we came across this place, in a little square opposite the bathing platform:

The menu looked interesting, and even better, there were tables in the shade so we sat down and were immediately approached by the chef/owner who started to explain the menu to us. Of course, having just arrived we weren’t really able to take everything in, so we opted for what we thought were tasty but safe options - tuna for DH and spaghetti with swordfish for me, plus beer, wine and a large bottle of water. Perhaps we should have paid more attention, as DH’s tuna came with a large serving of what was described to us as fichi d’India and turned out to be prickly pear and my spaghetti included not only pieces of swordfish but also large capers, radicchio, and a sprinkling of unsweetened cocoa. Tasty it certainly was, but I wasn’t convinced that it’s a winning combination. Nor did DH take to the prickly pear that much - I tried it and I agreed that it was a nice taste but the large seeds made eating it quite difficult. Still there was a pleasant atmosphere, a nice breeze, and cool drinks. Our first espressos accompanied by digestives on the house finished the meal and after paying the very reasonable bill of €57, we set off to explore the rest of Ortigia.

I must confess that I had been a tad skeptical that Ortigia could be as lovely as we had been told by people here, but we were soon won over. Surrounded on 3 sides by water [4 if you count the harbour] it’s in a lovely position, with sun or shade available at all times of the say, depending on your mood. Tiny streets to explore, beautiful squares to sit in and enjoy watching la passegiata, historical buildings like the Duomo to visit, even a bathing platform if you’re feeling hot [and brave!] - there is little it doesn’t have. We soon found ourselves in the Piazza del Duomo, and after testing our first granita [a very light sorbet, this time in passion fruit flavour] we decided to do our first bit of real sightseeing and explore the Duomo itself. We were a little surprised to find out that you have to pay to go in, but for only €2 each, we were prepared to splash out. As we almost did, as were it not for DH’s eagle eye, which spotted that the girl on the kiosk was only going to give him change for a €10 euro note, rather than the €20 he handed her, it would have been a very expensive visit. As it was, the “old-fashioned look” he gave her produced the correct change, but I wonder how many others had fallen for that old trick. I have to say that that was the only time when anyone ever tried to cheat us, and everywhere else we received only honesty and courtesy, but it certainly put us on our guard for the next few days.

In truth the interior of the Duomo does not match the magnificence of its exterior; though it is undoubtedly ancient in places but seemed to be a mishmash of styles without much atmosphere. So we were very glad that it didn’t cost more than €2 each!

On our wanderings we had come across the Teatro dei Pupi about which we had read, [and indeed were using the map that they helpfully provide on their publicity brochure which we had picked up in our hotel] but it was closed, with no indication of when the ticket office might be open. So when we found the Tourist office we asked when we might be able to buy tickets; the somewhat vague answer that they might open around 5pm didn’t inspire confidence. But Ortigia isn’t that big so on the way back to the hotel we took a detour and fortunately it was open for business. As we were quite tired we weren’t sure that we’d make it through to 9.30 pm for the performance that night so we bought tickets for the next night and paid for them then as apparently that meant that we’d only have to get there 5 minutes in advance. My notes tell me that they were only €8.50 each which turned out to be a real bargain, but more of that later.

By now we were indeed flagging so we dragged ourselves away from all the lovely cafes, bars and interesting shops, [Ortigia is a great place for souvenir shopping!] and went back to the hotel for a nap, and our first use of the shower, which is often an interesting experience. This one was fully equipped with buttons for massage jets etc. but in fact all I wanted was a normal shower at which it was ok, not brilliant. But it was perfectly adequate with lots of hot water whatever time of day you wanted it.

The website is unavailable so I’ve linked to the TA review page and everything they say is true! We really did have a fantastic meal and they were turning people away shortly after we arrived. We were sat outside effectively on the road [they have a small area cordoned off by plant pots in typical italian fashion] but that didn’t detract as you felt that you were part of the street scene and there wasn’t too much traffic at that time of night. it was difficult to decide what to eat, but in the end DH had ravioli of porcini and prosciutto, followed by calamari e gamberi [prawns] fritti, and I had carpaccio di buffalo [mozarella] gamberi, e melon with tagliatini con aragosta [lobster] to follow. It was all excellent but probably DH’s ravioli was the best. As usual we drank a litre of sparkling water plus wine recommended by the waiter - in this case a local white [no note of the name unfortunately] which was about €18 for the bottle which of course we finished. We were too full for pud, so we opted for coffee and had 2 espressos each, which they comped us for some reason, so the whole lot came to €75.

And after a very long day, we fell into bed and didn’t wake up until the morning; a perfect first day in Sicily.

Oh, wonderful to read this, annhig! I so love your reports and this is a great beginning!

So glad that you also loved Ortigia! It's hard not to fall in love with such a charming place.

I must admit that DH and I were both really taken by the Duomo, both interior and exterior, but we both love the fact that it's built on an ancient Greek temple with columns clearly incorporated into the walls. You're absolutely right that it's a bit of a mishmash, and doesn't have a stunning interior like others we saw later in the trip, but we both were excited by that mishmash, and loved it precisely because of it! Of course, the Piazza di Duomo is a beautiful one, stunning in the evening when all the buildings are lit up.

I have read some of the Montalbano books but we don't have the TV series here yet. I would definitely watch it if I could find it. We went to Sicily this summer to visit my husband's family. It was our 3rd visit and I am sure not our last. Enjoying your report very much.

Annhig: So glad I' awe found this report. I've been rather absent lately, but i love your reports and have never been to Sicily, I really would love to visit there, and not sure I'll ever make it, but I'll follow you with pleasure.

Salaparuta. It is inland from Paletmo. We flew in to Palermo and stayed in a hotel in the countryside close to Sambuca di Sicilia. We also visited Agrigento, Monreale (wow) and a few other places. Sadly we were only there for 5 days. I feel your pain about the driving. Not sure what the rules are but we loved it and we love Sicily.

Besides the Montalbano series, Camilleri has written many other books, unfortunately many have not been translated into English. One that did make film status is "The Vanishing of Pato," also available from Amazon. Sicily late 1800's, brightly painted carts, wonderful costumes . . . just fun! Read the reviews and if it appeals . . . .

Thanks for mentioning his other works. I have been [trying to] read his short stories about Montalbano in italian and though it can be hard going at times, I enjoy doing it. however I think that I understand than I might otherwise would as i understand the context and know some of the names. With a completely new set of characters, I might be more at sea!

The Montalbano series is shown on cable TV in the US occasionally -- I think we saw some episodes on CUNY-TV, but it's never made it to the public broadcasting networks (for me, PBS) that I'm aware of. It's too bad -- those shows we saw, DH and I also enjoyed thoroughly.

annhig, please, absolutely no criticism meant about the different takes we all have on our trips. That's why the different reports are so valuable to read, because we each have our personal experience of a place that can differ. And trust me, I wish I got to the restaurant you mentioned -- sounds fabulous! Or the puppet show, which we didn't end up seeing, either. So I'm reading and thinking that it might be nice to get back someday! Or at least dream about it.....

annhig, please, absolutely no criticism meant about the different takes we all have on our trips. That's why the different reports are so valuable to read, because we each have our personal experience of a place that can differ.>>

Progol, I had to go back and reread what you had written to find the criticism! of course all our trips are different and inevitably we will have different reactions to the things that we see and do, but I certainly didn't take offence because you liked the Duomo more than I did [if that's what you were referring to?]

It was pure serendipity that we managed to get tickets for the puppet theatre - I'd almost forgotten about it until we picked up the map in the hotel [so it was definitely doing its job] and I was fully expecting it would be sold out to groups. I'm sorry you missed it but I'm sure you saw many other wonderful things that we missed, so we will both have to go back!

If you're reading Montalbano in Italian . . .it really isn't Italian but Camilleri's version of Sicilian as spoken in his birthplace area of western Sicily, Below is a link to a dictionary published years ago by Il Giornali di Sicilia.

Absolutely, annhig! Perhaps we will overlap in one of those visits! I'm glad you didn't feel any criticism -- probably my own hyper sensitivity and was, as you know, simply offering a differing take on the duomo.

After an excellent night’s sleep and a reasonable [though not great] breakfast taken in the hotel’s 5th storey restaurant with lovely views across the roofs of Ortigya, we set off to find our way to the Necropolis in nearby Siracusa. I’d read quite a bit about it, and knew that it was a pretty exposed site which would it be better to see when it wasn’t too hot, but it was clearly going to be hot all the time we were in Sicily, so it was now or never.

The day before we’d noticed that there was a bus stop just behind the hotel, and having no desire to do battle with the local traffic again, we thought we’d get the bus. Easier said than done. After quite a lot of work, we worked out the ordinary bus timetable, which seemed to indicate that to get to the Necropolis we’d have to change buses [from a no 1 to a 3] at some point; if we caught the HOHO bus it would take us there without a change but they were far less frequent. [only one an hour compared to the town buses which were theoretically once every 20 mins].

All this interpretation had taken quite a while, and still there had been no sign of any bus. None at all. And so after about 20-25 mins, we gave up and decided to walk to where we thought we’d be able to pick up the no 3 bus [possibly no 2, I may have misremembered] which was over in Siracusa just over the bridge on the Corso. Well that wasn’t too bad but the waiting was a bit of pain as firstly a local bus, and then a HOHO bus [€4.50 per day as opposed to €1 pp per trip on the local bus] came past completely full. But the next local bus stopped and had lots of space, albeit mostly standing, and the driver

v e r y s l o w l y h e l p e d u s g e t o u r t i c k e t s.

Yes, that’s how slow it was. No way would she let us buy them from the machine and validate them ourselves, we had to give her the money and she bought the ticket for us. With about 20 people getting on the bus, this took some time. So I rewarded her by inadvertently standing with my shoulder blade against the request stop button and she had to stop at every stop whether someone wanted to get on or off or not. Eventually someone worked out what was happening which led to some amusing exchanges with the locals, at least I thought that what they said was supposed to be amusing!

It was quite a long ride up to the Necropolis, and I was glad that we hadn’t tried to walk it; DH had cleverly worked out that the scales on the Siracusa and Ortigia maps were different; the Siracusa one was smaller so it was rather further to the Necropolis than we [for which read I] had anticipated. Once the bus had pulled into the car park [lined with souvenir booths and the odd welcome cafe offering juices, coffees, etc.] we followed the signs and the herd to the ticket office and decided to get a combination ticket which included the archaeological museum; it didn’t cost a lot more and I’d read good things about it in my trusty Blue Guide to Sicily, which DH was nobly carrying round with him. [note to self; it doesn’t matter how good a guide book is, if it’s too heavy and/or bulky to carry easily, it’s no good at all].

So we had a spremuta each at one of the bars [only €2 each for a large glass] and then crossed the road and walked down the hill to the first of the attractions which is the Roman amphitheatre, where we found another billetteria and some rather dodgy toilets. IMO the roman site was no more than moderately interesting but the setting is nice with an area of woodland to the west which provided some pleasant shade.

After that we walked further down to the Greek remains; the setting is far more dramatic with stone caves at the back complete with a waterfall, and the large and mainly complete greek theatre which you can see from all angles. But it was very hot and by then we needed a drink so we followed signs to the restaurant where we were able to have a couple of beers and some crisps. The menu was interesting in that it listed the types of beer according to what we eventually worked our was their “hop” content; we went for the lighter one which was pretty good. Then we re-entered the site [no problems getting back in again with our tickets] and walked down to Dionysis’ ear which is a large cave, set within a wooded grove - again it was nice and shady especially inside the cave of course and it was vey peaceful once a rather rowdy school party had gone.

By now we’d just about had enough of old ruins, so we decided to walk down to the museum via the very striking modern church, the Madonna delle Lacrime, its triangular spire pointing up into the sky and visible from most of the town. [the Madonna refer to nothing more romantic than the very ordinary plaster replica of Mary, made in a local factory which turns out thousands of these a year, which is said to have wept continuously for 4 days in a nearby house]. apparently you can see it in the crypt but we weren't very interested in it and by then we were hungry.

At this point we made a mistake - we should have stopped for some food immediately, but not seeing anything that really appealed, we pressed on, and then we found ourselves in a part of town where there was nothing at all or at least not at the time that we were passing. So our explorations of the church, with its impressive stained glass and dramatic exterior, and the museum, which holds a very fine collection of ceramics discovered in Sicily, including some beautiful drinking vessels, were not as thorough as we might have liked. Eventually we more or less fell into some seats at a restaurant down by the harbour, and had a late lunch of melon and prosciutto [me] and octopus and potato salad [DH] not to mention a large beer and a white wine and some water. Lesson learned [or so I thought!]

Feeling a great deal happier, we took a different route back to the hotel via the western side of Ortigia, and had a granita each at a little kiosk down by the area where some very posh gin palaces were tied up. From there it was possible to walk back up to the Duomo area via some steps and a small alleyway which brought us quickly back into town.

A few hours rest back in our re comfy room and we were refreshed enough to go out for a drink and perhaps something else, before the puppet show. This time we walked down towards the Castello at the southern end of the island, in the hope of seeing the sunset from the western side, but unfortunately it was a little cloudy and we didn’t see anything much. But we did find a nice bar serving cocktails which were accompanied by a very substantial helping of bruschetta and other nibbles. This seemed to be the norm in Ortigia, because the next night when we stopped in a different bar, we were offered a similar selection, all gratis.

And now for the puppet show - we really had no firm expectations, but we found ourselves in the second row of a tiny theatre, seating possibly no more than 30 people, with a stage at the front, with the conventional curtains. There was some martial music, a plea for everyone to turn off cameras, phones etc., and we were off. We had helpfully been given a sheet with the plot written on it, but try as I might, I was not really able to tie up what I was seeing with its description, and it wasn’t just a problem of translation as so far as I could see, it said the same in French, german and italian. At any rate the plot had to do with the adventures of Orlando and his rescue of a moorish girl who had been kidnapped by the false friend of her lover and taken to a Scottish island where she was being held captive. Much of the action involved fighting which was hilariously indicated by lots of banging of swords and noises off, but there were poignant moments too and some comedy when the princesse’s mother was explaining to her that marriage to a man she didn’t know wasn’t so bad - she hadn’t been able to stand her daughter’s father when they were first married but now she wouldn’t be without him. Not surprisingly the princess was unconvinced, and eloped before she could be married off to an old knight who she didn’t know, only to find herself shipwrecked, rescued and betrayed, all in the space of 5 minutes.

The puppets are clearly of ancient pattern, as was the plot, but it was a lot of fun and the hour went very quickly; it was only marred by a couple of the audience completely ignoring the request not to film or take pictures, which they did constantly. The lights from their camera screens were very distracting but even requests from other members of the audience to desist did not dissuade them.

After the performance we found a little bar further down the street where we had a coffee and then we retraced our way back to our hotel down the little alleyways and fell into bed.

thanks, Fra - I know, I should be bashing away at the laptop but having accompanied me to Sicily and "endured" its highs and lows, I thought that when DH said let's go to France for the weekend, I had to accept. such a sacrifice.

Enjoying your trip! So much fun to follow - we each had such different experiences! Though I will add looking for the busses in Siracusa/Ortygia were pretty impossible - if you recall, we were rescued by a local couple who ended up driving us to the archeological park!

Enjoy your weekend in France! This is where I am especially envious of those of you on the other side of the Atlantic from me--- it 's a whole lot more exciting to say, "I'm going to France for the weekend" than saying "I'm going to New Jersey for the weekend" (no offense meant -- really! -- to those of you in NJ!).

progol - never having been to New Jersey, I couldn't comment. We are taking advantage of an offer from Brittany Ferries - return trip for us and the car from Plymouth to Roscoe, & B&B in a hotel in Benodet [southern Brittany] for 3 nights, all for about £340. The ferry we are catching lays on a special dinner on Thursday nights so we will indulge ourselves on the trip over, have [hopefully] a good night's sleep on the boat and be ready to hit the road as we leave the boat in the morning.

And yes, I know that we are lucky being able just to hop over the channel when we feel like it.

As for bus stops in Ortigia/Siracusa, we were directed to the one behind the hotel by the receptionist, [not that it did us any good] but we came across the one just at the end of the Corso entirely by chance. [I'd forgotten about your good Samaritans!]

We certainly didn't see meet on the way back as my feet could testify.

As many of the puppet shows you'll see in Sicily use characters and situations from Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso or sometimes, the Song of Roland, the shows are similar. While in Sicily, you'll see depictions of these characters on the pottery, the painted carts, (and now the painted trucks) murals . . .and lots of other places.

This is a lovely hotel - the best nights’ sleep I can remember having in a hotel for a long time, and the breakfasts are pretty good too; my only complaints are the saltiness of the scrambled egg [ a matter of taste I suppose] and the coffee, which was greatly improved by ordering a cappucccino rather than drinking the hotel’s offering.

That accomplished we set off for the Fort at the southern tip of the island, which cost all of €2.50 each to enter. Even at 10am it was baking hot on the central parade ground and this set me wondering what it must have been like for the soldiers who had to march round in all weathers, would would often have been even hotter than that mid-September morning. Fortunately for us there were exhibitions in a couple of the cool stone-built rooms, one on the history of the fort, and another showing bronze copies of 2 statues of sheep which were both fun and impressive so we were able to shelter from the heat for a while, but those poor soldiers!

Anyway having got there we wanted to look round the whole complex so we followed the signs into the area where the munitions were kept, and were surprised to find that we were more or less surrounded by groups of ladies speaking what appeared to be Russian. They had no guide, but were wandering round, like us, and soaking up the atmosphere.

By the time we’d taken a few photos and walked around part of the ramparts we were ready for a drink so we walked back up into the town and grabbed a beer somewhere, not sure where at this point. We were still pretty hot so DH suggested that we go for a swim; the hotel was right next to the swimming platform on the eastern side of the island and whilst there isn’t a beach as such, there appeared to be some sand at the bottom of the steps as well as rocks a little further out so we donned our costumes, and ventured out onto the platform. This is not a structure which would pass muster with most health and safety executives but it seemed solid enough and we were able to have a very pleasant swim along with a motley selection of locals, tourists, and the odd pooch!

The hotel being so close we were able to go back and shower and change, [much needed as we had omitted to pack beach towels] and then we set out for the major task of the day - lunch! The night before we’d had a look at a few places and we found ourselves drawn back to a restaurant that we’d spotted a little off the tourist track, in a lane slightly south of the Duomo :

Though this gets mixed reviews [not know to us at the time!] we were pretty impressed. The seafood antipasto that we shared was more than ample for two and was uniformly delicious and the pasta primi that we had for follow [spaghetti alle vongole for me, not sure what DH had] were pretty good too. We also had a bottle of house white which went down pretty well - by which I mean that we finished it.

With no room for puds we asked for coffee and while we were drinking the last of the wine plucked up the courage to enquire of the couple next to us, who had also just finished eating, where they came from, which turned out to be Moscow! Sadly neither of us speak more than a couple of words of Russian but the wife spoke quite good english, the husband some german, so between us we managed to have quite a reasonable conversation, and discovered that they were staying in a resort outside Siracusa in an apartment and using the the buses and trains to get around, which even with the limited amount of driving we’d done, sounded like a good idea. We also talked about the weather [of course - we’re Brits] and they shared the fact that in the last few years, winters in Moscow have been quite a lot warmer than they were used to.

After a half and hour’s chat they had to go to catch the train so we continued our explorations of the tiny streets of Ortigia, stopping for the odd gelato [or in my case granita, which I had quickly grown to love] and window shopping as we wended our way back to the hotel for a post prandial nap.

The evening saw us taking part in the Sunday evening passagiata and drinking cocktails in one of the bars near the Duomo which appear to come with quite large snacks as standard so that may be worth remembering for those who don’t want a full meal; sadly we were still full of lunch! While drinking we were looking at the map making our final plans for the morning, when we were due to set off on the next part of our trip - a drive to Ragusa where we had booked two nights in a B&B in Ragusa Ibla. Should we drive straight there thus avoiding leaving our luggage in the car while we explored some places on the way? Or could we take the risk of stopping off somewhere to have a look round, and possibly even a drink and a snack? Just how safe was it to leave things in the car?

thanks, lreynold and FF. I really am thinking about the next episode but life and work keep on intervening.

FF - it was a lot of fun seeing some of the places that feature in the TV series - in fact I don't think that we spent long enough doing that and I'd really like to go back to that area, but there is so much else to see too! In retrospect I wish we'd spent more time there and scrubbed Taormina, but there were some good bits about our time in that area too, so we'll just have to force ourselves to go back!

finally, another instalment - at this rate they'll have changed the format before I finish this!

Day 4 - Whose turn to drive is it???

Today we were leaving Ortigia and the lovely hotel Livingstone, so after another great night’s sleep we were up reasonably early, packed and then breakfasted, all by about 9.30. Well we didn’t want to be so early that we got caught in the early morning traffic, did we? So while I paid the bill [in crisp new € notes, bought just before the Brexit referendum, a deal on which we saved approximately the cost of an evening meal comparing the cost of €2000 before and after the vote] Paolo retrieved our car from yet another parking spot, packed it with our luggage far more efficient;y than we had managed at the first attempt, and after rewarding him with a suitable tip, we were off on the next part of our trip.
This morning it was my turn to drive and DH’s to navigate, and it was with some trepidation that I negotiated the first few kms that took us out of Ortigia and Syracuse and towards Ragusa. Of course I’ve no idea what the early morning traffic would have been like but at that hour of the day it really wasn’t too bad and apart from the odd roundabout where Rule One of driving in Sicily seemed to apply [Rule one - there are no rules, rule two - see rule one] we emerged unscathed. So far I had definitely had the luck of the draw so far as driving stints were concerned and DH was looking decidedly miffed that it was all so easy for me.

As google maps and our Tom-tom agreed that it was only about an our and a half to Ragusa, our plan was to stop off mid-morning at a town called Palazzo Acreide which proved to be a pleasant enough little spot. What had not been entirely clear from the map was that the old town was on the top of the hill, so for the first but not for the last time, we coaxed the Fiat up the winding roads to the town centre, where we quickly found a parking space. Could this be real? Was it safe to leave the car with the luggage in it? Certainly Palazzo Acreide did not look like a hot bed of robbers and car thieves but who knows? We were somewhat reassured by the fact that there was a parking warden [I think] wandering around, and the car was in plain sight of a couple of cafes, so we thought that we’d risk it.

Finding the space had been easy enough but finding the machine for the tickets was another matter. It quickly became apparent that there were several people wandering around the square looking for the darn machine and none of us knew where it was. Time to dust off the Italian! So I accosted the aforementioned traffic warden, and guessing more or less at what he said, followed what I believed to be his directions. Well it must have worked as we found the ticket machine down a side road, and we were able to point quite a few others in the right direction. We even had the right change!

After a wander round the church [which was being prepared for a funeral service so we didn’t linger] we spotted the tourist information bureau, grabbed a map, and started to walk around the centre. Another church was indicated up yet another hill so we set off only to find that we had to go down before we went up, but nothing daunted we decided to press on. I can’t remember much about it, so i suspect that it wasn’t very spectacular, but it made for an interesting walk as we explored the little streets and in some cases steps going between the houses, which eventually took us back to where we started.

Time for a drink so we sat down at a table outside one of the cafe in the square where we could see our car, and ordered a beer and a fruit juice. I was tempted by one of the pastries that I could see inside, [which looked suspiciously like cornish pasties] but in the end we decided to pass, and just as our parking ticket was running out, we were ready to leave.

This time it was DH’s turn to drive and as luck would have it, getting out of our parking space was nowhere near as easy as getting into it as the road had been blocked off for parking for the funeral, so barriers had to be moved and other cars negotiated. But after a few minutes we were free and following the map [and directions from the Tomtom] to Ragusa.

The map showed that to get to the main road to Ragusa, we had to take a minor road and the Tomtom agreed so what could go wrong? The first 5 kms or so were fine but then they took a turn for the worse as the road surface deteriorated as did our mood. One side of the road had fallen almost completely away in places and DH had to swerve around quite wildly to miss the worst pot-holes. As it was we still hit a few of them, though he was going very slowly. Thank goodness for that extra car insurance! Negotiating this “short cut” took what seemed to be an inordinately long time and in the end it would have been quicker to go to Noto! However we finally hit the main road and breathed a sigh of relief [which turned out to be somewhat premature!]

[In retrospect we should probably ignored the warnings about not leaving things in the car and have gone to Noto en route to Ragusa anyway, rather than trying to cut across country. If the opportunity had come up later in the trip, it wouldn’t have worried me at all but this being the first day of driving I was feeling nervous about such things, so we missed it. Next time I hope!]

In what seemed no time at all we were on the outskirts of Ragusa and following the instructions given us by our B&B owner to find the property. Yet again we were heading up winding little streets that got narrower and steeper as we climbed. DH not happy again! Eventually we found ourselves in what seemed to be the right place and DH squeezed the car into a tiny parking place so i could get out and find the property. Which I did but it was just a door. A large door in the middle of a building but nothing else. However there was a bell with the B&B’s name on it so I rang it, to be answered by a disembodied voice which said that he would be down in a minute. Assuming that he was somewhere in the building, I was somewhat disconcerted to have the owner of the voice arrive behind me a few minutes later! He had clearly been somewhere else.

However he volunteered to help us with the luggage, so DH drove the car up to the door, and risking the wrath of those stuck behind us, we unloaded the bags, and the door was opened to reveal a long stone staircase stretching up and round a corner. oh dear. DH was not happy. But with the help of the owner we got the bags up to the top, where on the other side of a small courtyard, we found our room. Or should I say rooms as we had a large kitchen/sitting room, a bathroom and hall area, and a good sized bedroom, and all very clean and quiet. Cool too as the stone walls were tremendously thick.

There was however no time to dally as our car was blocking the road so locking up quickly, we descended and our host jumped into the car with us and guided us [or rather me as DH was refusing to drove!] up to the parking at the top of the town where the main part of the B&B turned out to be situated. Once we’d parked [easier said than done] he showed us round the rest of the property. As well as more rooms, there were a breakfast room, a garden with swimming pool, and a small office where we handed over our passports and completed the formalities. Then we were shown how to get back down to our room on the road below, down some steps between the houses, and that was it!

It bills itself as a boutique hotel but IMO it had more the air of B&B albeit a very nice one - there was no bar and no common areas save the breakfast room, and the garden of course but the room we had was very well appointed and comfortable, apart from a leaky shower head which was going to be replaced the day we left. And the view from the garden over the roofs of Ragusa was fantastic; my only sadness was that we didn’t have long enough there to really make the most of it.

Having found our way back to our part of the hotel and deposited the smaller of our bags, it was time for lunch so we walking in what we thought was the direction of the town and just past the Cathedral found ourselves at the top of a scene well known to Montalbano fans - a large sloping piazza with the Cathedral at the top, and large buildings on each side. One of these was a cafe serving lunch at tables in the middle so we grabbed one under a nice shady parasol, and each ordered a salad and wine/beer - there was no way we were going to be driving again that day.

While we were eating [nothing special, but the situation was nice] we discussed our plan for the afternoon - I remembered someone here had mentioned a bus that went from the bottom of Ragusa Ibla [where we were staying] up to Ragusa Superiore so we could walk down the many steps for which the town in famous, rather than walk up them. So after another tiny coffee, we walked down through the town spotting restaurants for later in the day, buying a few post cards, til we reached the public garden where the bus stop was supposed to be situated. Which was closed. No bus stop. Nothing to tell you where it was. Niente. So we sat down on a bench for a few moments to see if anything or anyone turned up. Eventually a few people with cases started to gather by a notice board so we wandered over and guess what? There was a timetable. So that was the bus stop. The timetable wasn’t easy to follow but it looked as if there was a bus in about 15 minutes. Then we saw people going to and from a little shop and on asking, we discovered that they sold the bus tickets there so we got two singles and waited and in 10 mins or so, there was the bus.

We clambered aboard with everyone else, validated our tickets in the machine, realised that there were no seats so we were going to have to stand, and hung on while the bus circled the old town of Ragusa Ibla and then headed up to Ragusa Superiore. The guide book said that after the earthquake of 1693 when the hilltop city of Ragusa was destroyed, along with many other, most of the the locals started to build a new town on another hill even higher up, but the aristocrats didn’t want to move so they rebuild their palazzi on the original site, thus producing the two hilltop cities. The bus can’t go through the old streets or up the many flights of steps so it needs to go round, consequently it was difficult to work out where to get off but in the end after consulting the map [not all that easy to do in a speeding bus, and one of the reasons I decided I might need new glasses] we decided we’d probably gone far enough and jumped off at the next stop.

Initially we started off by going in the wrong direction [up hill] but we quickly realised that was a bad idea and having oriented ourselves, headed for the middle of Ragusa Superiore which to our eyes at least, was remarkable for having the longest steepest main street I’ve ever seen. Why did they do it? I can understand building towns on hilltops in the Middle Ages and even why those towns were rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake that destroyed not just Ragusa but several other hill towns too, which is why we now have the pleasure of being able to visit so many baroque gems in eastern Sicily, but why build a NEW town higher up still than the original? Anyway, while we were contemplating this mystery or more like consulting the map for the nth time, we were approached by an elderly couple who, addressing us in French, enquired if we could tell them the way to the port? Sadly we told them that we too were strangers to the area but we thought that it was a little too far away to walk, and bade them au revoir. This still strikes me as a strange encounter; they didn’t enquire whether we spoke french but just launched into their enquiry which makes me think that they assumed they would be understood but what were the odds of their finding people who understood french in the middle of Ragusa? Of course Brits have a reputation for assuming that the rest of the world speaks English, but the French? not quite so much. Anyway it was nice for me to find that my french had not been supplanted by the italian I’d been speaking for the last few days and the pleasure of being able to say “Je suis desoleé” to a french person cannot be underestimated, though I could never approach their air of indifference whilst saying it of course. The other thing that was odd was that Ragusa is really not anywhere near the sea - the nearest is at Marina di Ragusa about 20kms away.

After this puzzling interlude we continued walking down the main street heading for the flights of stairs that would take us back to Ragusa Ibla and in truth though the guide books say that Superiore can be a good place to stay we didn’t see anything of great interest there; there would undoubtedly be a lot of walking up and down hills involved in a stay in that part of the town. Eventually we got to what one might see as the jewel in the crown of Ragusa - the part of town between the two towns where one follows in countless footsteps down [or in some cases up] down endless flights of steps taking one past tiny houses, churches and shops. It wasn’t always easy to see which way to go and in the end we just walked towards the people who where climbing up the steps, some of them with huge backpacks, and eventually we found ourselves back in our part of town and stopped for a well-earned beer. The bar we were in turned out to be opposite some sort of working men’s club and it was interesting watching them sitting outside their club and chewing the cud, as old men everywhere do. But they too scuttled inside when it started to rain, so we headed back to our B&B for a rest before dinner.

Though we had every intention of going out early enough to visit the cathedral somehow we didn’t make it, and after a long traipse round the town, we discovered that neither of us was particularly hungry so we settled for a supper of salumi and wine in a small bar off the main street, where it turned out that they had some terrific gelato so we had some of that too. Then after some very cheap brandies in the Cafe del Duomo, we turned in.

Though not quite as comfy as the bed at the Livingstone, [which is going to be my benchmark for hotel beds from now on!] we had a good night’s sleep with the only problem being the rather poor shower caused by the damaged shower head. I would like to think that the reason it hadn’t been fixed was because it hadn’t been reported to the management by other occupants of the room and certainly a new shower head had arrived the morning after we reported it but of course it should also have been found and reported by the cleaners. Fortunately we don’t as a whole get too dirty, so it wasn’t that much of a problem, but it could have been and apart from that, the hotel got high marks.

After a pretty good breakfast, [though I missed my fresh ricotta] we headed out to do a tour of the southern baroque towns. Of course it was my turn to drive this time, so heart in mouth, I pointed the car down the hill and slowly negotiated the many twists and turns of the road out of Ragusa, and made for Modica. Unfortunately my planning broke down at this point [no map] and try as we might, we could not find the baroque centre of the town despite parking and walking round for a while. In retrospect we should have tried my phone but we didn’t and in the end we gave up and just drove down to Modica Bassa where we had a little wander round, but didn’t find anything special. Nothing daunted however, I remembered how much another fodorite had liked Scicli, so we cut our losses, and made for it. We managed to park on the edge of the centre, and after a short walk found ourselves on a leafy promenade with several restaurants, and, it was lunchtime! hooray!

One looked particularly nice with large shady umbrellas and once we announced that we wanted lunch, we were moved to another smarter table under a larger umbrella. The antipasto della casa immediately leapt out at me, and DH fancied the melon and parma ham as well, so we ordered that and two glasses of wine and we were done! What a feast. I don’t remember exactly what we had but I certainly remember how delicious it all was - a great mixture of fish and vegetables, some bread, and the melon and ham of course. Certainly there was no room for anything else apart from one of those tiny coffees. Perfetto!

Without finding anything startling, we enjoyed exploring Scicli a little more and then as it was very hot [the hottest we’d found it so far] we decided to drive down to the coast and try to find a beach to go swimming. Somehow [and this is another tribute to my planning] we managed to miss the beach where Montalbano’s house, now a B&B, is situated, but eventually we arrived at Marina di Ragusa and after finding a shady parking spot, we changed into our swimming togs, which we had “just happened” to bring with us. I can now officially announce that the back of a Fiat Punto is not an easy place in which to get changed into a swimming costume. DH managed ok, but when it was my turn to clamber into the back and try to manoeuvre my way into my cossie it took forever, and I was getting hotter and hotter. Phew - I really needed that swim.

Not wanting to leave anything valuable in the car or on the beach we had to swim separately, but that was ok, and then of course there was the lack of towels. Having realised when we got to Ortigia that we’d forgotten to put beach towels in the luggage, we’d kept an eye out for somewhere to buy them but failed, and as we didn’t want to use the ones from the hotel, to dry ourselves off we had to stand around with our arms out, a bit like cormorants! It took about 30 mins I suppose to get dry enough to put some clothes on; we amused ourselves by being chatted to by a couple of people - first of all the elderly lady who wanted to know where we were from, why we were in her town, etc., then the Bangladeshi hawker who lost interest as soon as he realised we weren’t buying [not that I’m blaming him for that] - and then we watched a young man showing off to some lads by doing acrobatic back-flips onto the sand.

As we walked back to the car we found a little gelateria selling granita, including pina colada flavour, so we treated ourselves to one each, and then I drove slowly back to Ragusa, so I got the pleasure not only of driving down that hill, but back up it again! The good news was that I remembered the way back up to the car park [which we realised was level with the roof of the Duomo] and that there was a space! Hooray!

We’d managed to shower ourselves off on the beach a bit so the lack of a decent shower in the bathroom wasn’t such a problem, and after a bit of a rest, we ventured out to see if the Duomo was open and to find somewhere to eat. Oh no - we’d missed it again! Rats.

Why? well, they had a table outside, there was something on the menu that each of us liked [not always a given] and we just liked it. oh yes, and the price was right. Of the two of us, I think that I was the luckier, while DH had a pasta dish that was ok [and I’ve forgotten what it was] I had perhaps the most delicious plate of food that I tasted in whole of our trip - spaghetti with squash and ricotta. How could such simple ingredients taste so good? For main course DH had a huge steak and I had lamb chops, and truthfully we only needed one of those - a good lesson to learn, though we had asked whether they were serving Sicilian portions of each course and they said yes. [Sicilian portions are, we had been told, a large serving of pasta but a small serving of meat or fish to follow]. So after a coffee each we waddled back up to the cafe del Duomo and imbibed some brandy, and then staggered back to our room. Tomorrow we would be leaving Ragusa with regret, because there were a lot more restaurants we wanted to eat at, not to mention seeing more than the outside of that Duomo. Perhaps we could squeeze that in in the morning before we left?

Thia report piques my interest in convincing Mrs. P to consider a trip to Sicily. My own glitch would be trying to navigate those tiny streets with a manual shift. Are there any small automatic shift cars available there?

Just catching up on this. I really enjoyed Sicily, nice to revisit through your perspective. Was not a Montalbano fan when we visited, but have since become a convert.

AJ, modern manual transmission cars are much easier than the kind I grew up driving in the 80s and 90s. In fact, I kept thinking I had stalled the Alfa Romeo Giulietta we drove and really it was just an incredibly quiet engine.

I have to say that from my perspective [as someone who lives in rural Cornwall where narrow roads are commonplace] it wasn't so much the width of the roads as the behaviour of other drivers, and the difficulties of driving up [and down] the extremely winding roads to get to and from the hill towns. Having gears is actually a help [well it normally would be if you were in a car that had more power than the Punto we were driving] though I did occasionally long for my Merc, though I'd have been terrified driving it there.

Others have said that they did not find the driving as bad as we did - but it may be a case of when and where you try to drive.

I am sure that you can get small automatics - you would probably need to collect it from an airport in order to get the widest range of cars, use one of the bigger rental firms, and be prepared to turn up and be greeted by "dispiace, non abbiamo una macchina automatica oggi" [no automatics available today, sorry].

One alternative is to use public transport, and there is at least one TR here by someone who did just that - Dayle I think.

Happy to answer any more questions, if I haven't completely put you off the idea!

Leely - nice to see you here. I would love to go back to Sicily, not just to see more of it but to revisit some of the places to which I feel we didn't really do justice, especially the "Montalbano" areas. Glad you like the series - apparently it's a big hit with Italians too, my italian teacher's mother loves it. [She lives on Ischia which is where my teacher comes from].